NWSL stats and minutiae after Week 12

Here’s a look at some stats and minutiae following Week 12 of the 2026 National Women’s Soccer League season. We’ll keep evolving this space every week to try and keep you informed. Have an idea or an addition? Hit me @thedanlauletta on Bsky or X.

All statistics reference regular season games only, except where noted.

Individual stats:

• Kaleigh Kurtz has now played 127 consecutive regular season matches and 11,502 consecutive minutes. Both are league records. The streaks began June 26, 2021, while playing for the Courage (the unrounded number is due to a rain-shortened match in 2023).
• Kate Del Fava remains minute-perfect for the Royals, having played all 5,940 minutes over 66 games since the team launched in 2024. Those are the longest streaks from the start of any expansion team.
• Leif Gunnar Smerud is the 13th coach to win their first two NWSL matches. The record is 6 by Rob Gale with the Thorns in 2024. The only other coaches to win their first three are Casey Stoney (2022 Wave) and Juan Carlos Amoros (2002 Dash).
• Barbra Banda’s goal was her 12th of the season, extending her lead in the Golden Boot race over Ashley Sanchez, who is stuck on 9. Sanchez had a goal called back on a direct free kick on an unusual violation for having a teammate too close to the wall. Two-time defending boot holder Temwa Chawinga is stuck on 8. Former winner Sophia Wilson remains on 6 and was joined by Trinity Rodman.

Team stats:

• Gotham won their 100th regular season match Friday night in Utah. That made them the last of the surviving original teams to hit the 100 mark. This space considers the Courage an extension of the Western New York Flash, but even if you don’t, the Courage have 102 regular season wins just since arriving in North Carolina in 2017.
• Racing Louisville equaled their team record of 4 consecutive losses with Friday’s home setback to Bay FC. The club previously lost 4 in a row near the end of their inaugural season, 2021.
• The Stars extended a dubious league record by playing their 14th straight game from the start of the season without scoring in consecutive games. The 2016 Boston Breakers and 2021 Racing Louisville teams both took until their 13th matches to score in two games in a row. Before that was last year’s Stars, who went until their 11th game before doing so.  The Stars were shut out last weekend, meaning the best they can do is 16 games.
• Angel City recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since June 25-July 2, 2023.
• Maiara Niehues became the first Angel City player to score in four consecutive games. Before Niehues, Claire Emslie and Alyssa Thompson had also had streaks of three straight.
• Esther Gonzalez’s brace gave her 28 regular season goals for Gotham, tying Sam Kerr’s club record. Kerr left Gotham, then Sky Blue, after 2017, but recently re-signed and has yet to appear.